I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Shopping With Mavis – $10 off $50 Winco Coupon

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosureBy Mavis Butterfield on January 21, 2013 · 35 Comments

I’ll totally admit, this year has gotten off to a rocky start. With my Costco splurge, switching to local milk and now this $40+ trip to Winco, I know the odds are stacked against me. But even though I am seriously in the hole budget wise, I still think I’ll be able to pull off feeding my family for an average of $100 a month this year.

After all, someone is going to have to eat all those vegetables I plan on growing this summer, and with any journey, getting there is half the fun.

{Seriously, who would want to sample rice?}

I thought about stocking up on Cottonelle, but we have plenty of toilet paper right now, and I’m over my extreme couponing days of stuffing 15 packages of toilet paper under our beds, or in the kids closets, so I passed. I’m sure at some point another awesome deal will come along and I’ll stock up then, when rations are low.

I really feel like I have officially become the world’s most boring shopper. Buying 25 pound sacks of oatmeal at $0.38 cents a pound, and scooping bulk spices out of Snapware containers. Sheesh, what’s next? Spinning yarn?

Here is what my Winco transaction looked like with my $10 off a $50 purchase coupon.

If you have never been to Winco before, it’s totally worth rounding up some friends {there is safety in numbers} for the bulk spices alone. The prices beat Costco hands down, and you can probably stock up on a years supply for under $15! It’s crazy I tell you, just crazy.

How about YOU? Did you head to Winco today to use your coupon? Do you think the Quaker deal will be around this year? Have you ever bought a 25 pound sack of anything before? Did it make you see just a little like Laura Ingalls if you did?

Comments

What do you plan on using the oats for? Breakfast oatmeal? Rolls? what else?

Last spring I started making my own bread, so I’ve used a couple 50 lb sacks of bread flour from Costco. I love the idea of buying in bulk, because I hate running out of something. But in my small house, it’s not usually a good idea… I get frowned at. 😉

I feel like right now you are making an investment. You are spending more out of pocket at the moment, but what you are buying will last your family a long time. I think the spending will slow down and you will eat off your supply for quite a while. I have faith in you Mavis!!

Sadly, I lost my Winco coupon & didn’t get to use it. 🙁 I used to buy 25 or 50 pounds of things all the time. Whole grains, mostly. We have a grain grinder, and when we were making lots of homemade baked goods with a mix of several different grains, it made more sense to buy in bulk to save money & avoid running out of our favorites.

I buy 50lbs of oatmeal all the time. We make granola, so buying a big bag is necessary to keep from spending too much. We buy in bulk wherever and whenever we can and the better the deal, the happier we are. That’s a great price for oats!

5 lbs old fashioned oats
1 T Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups whatever Nut you like, minus peanuts or pine nuts or any nut that has the potential to sour. If you don’t like nuts don’t add them.
1 C coconut or to taste. If you don’t like coconut don’t add it.
Stir well

Separate container mix:
1 1/3 C water
1 1/3 C oil (your preference)
1 1/3 C honey
mix well (I’ve found a fork works great for mixing here) you want the honey mixed in very well, so you don’t get lumpy bits when it’s mixed with the oats.
add 3 T vanilla
mix and pour into oats mixture

Mix the wet and dry ingredients very well, making sure all the oats have been stirred in.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put about 1/4 of the mixture on cookie sheet with sides and bake for 15-20 minutes, (the edges should be brown). Stir the mixture and put back in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The whole should be a nice light golden brown, just don’t let the edges burn. Put into container to cool and store. It’s so tasty fresh too.

I don’t know how many it serves because I have never really paid much attention we eat it so fast. 🙂

I saw those huge bags yesterday when I was using my coupon. I think we’d end up with pantry moths though! But I could buy it for the chickens. I use whole oats as a scratch treat, mixed with sunflower seeds and other grains.

We used ours! We stocked up on fruits, veggies, and some bulk spices that I needed and realized we had only spent about $10…. haha!! I told my hubby he better think quick about things he wanted that I dont normally buy. I ended up getting two wedges of Parmesan, some Tillamook Sharp Cheddar and Monteray Jack since we needed it anyway. He rounded out or trip with Lean Cuisines (that I did have a coupon for) and Lunchables. I do buy Lean Cuisines for him to take for lunch when we dont have leftovers or he is running too late to make his own lunch, but I typically never buy Lunchables. He and my son were pretty excited to take those home. I’m not sure why since I think they are pretty gross, but to each their own!

Looking at your post. I missed the Cottonelle deal on the local matchups, but now I will be going back tomorrow! We have a decent amount stockpiled, but I want to be good for the year with babies on the way!

I bought a 25 lb bag of reg oats and a 50 lb bag of quick oats a few months ago. My family loves homemade granola and granola bars, so we go through oats really fast. Today I ground wheat, made wheat bread, granola and granola bars. I totally feel like Laura Ingalls!

I buy rice and Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free flour in 25# bags. I would buy other 25# GF flours if I had the space to store them. But considering the only storage space in my entire house (for a pantry, extra small appliances and linens) is 5’x5′ I just don’t have the room.

I went to Winco 3 times and used the $10 coupons each time. I got lots of stuff (obviously)- and used about $20 in coupons each time. The only area of the store I didn’t go to was the produce department because I got my Bountiful Basket. I think I had better not go to the store for the next 2 weeks….we have lots of food in the house right now. I got 24 jars of Prego for .78 per jar which was a great deal and we go through alot of it and I also supply food to my grown son and his roommate frequently. This afternoon I made the sausage and baked potato casserole recipe that you posted recently as well as homemade chili and shepherd’s pie ….and took it all to my son! He and his roommate will have food to get them through the week.

May I say you can never have to much bacon. Orzo recipe please! Isn’t Costco’s price on butter better but if ya need butter? Oatmeal prices are great. Steel cut in crock pot overnight, yum. I got some mizithra cheese (brown butter) to round out my bulk food items. Winco is a bit far away for me but was worth the drive. Would not have bothered but I will make a list and journey out there every other month or so to stock up.

I got 2 of those coupons in the mail, and tossed them both. The only things I ever get at Winco are the spices and Brussels sprouts and I was afraid that if I had those coupons, I would force myself to get more than I needed when I don’t really need anything.

In other news…. I did receive 2 Silpats for Christmas. I made a big batch of peanut butter/old banana/chocolate chip cookies for the young ‘uns last night. Oh it was a dream!

I buy our oats, beans, wheat and rice in big bags like that. Then I just put them in 5 gallon containers with a gamma lid. I keep a gallon mason jar in the kitchen with a lid on it for easy access, then I just refill that as needed. I did get a $10 coupon mailed to me, but decided not to go to Winco because we are pretty well stocked for now.

I buy rice in a 25 lb bag. We go to Winco once a month to buy groceries. We stock up on everything. The rest of the month I only have to stop at the local Safeway maybe twice for a few fresh items we run out of. I love it because I’m not running to the store weekly. I normally get 10 lb bags of sugar & flour. I’m going for the 25lb bag of oats after reading this post. My grandma used to have a built in panty in her garage and she called it “the fruit house” because back then they would always can fruit (and veggies) and keep them in that pantry. Well, my family has an extra big cabinet we bought at Costco and have in the garage that we put all our extra food in and we call in the fruit house in honor of my grandma!

I was wondering about the bay leaves in the grains. What it will do for you. I have always been told that the bugs are already in the grains and when the temperature is right they will hatch. Do the bay leaves keep them from hatching or cause them to leave after they hatch. I am really confused.

Mimi,
Yes, the prices you see are for 1 lb. Initially it might seem like the prices are too high (or at least I did!), but once you weigh them you’ll realize that since they are so lightweight that it is really cheap!

Does Winco carry saffron or do you know of a good place to get some at a decent price? My boyfriend bought me a beautiful copper paella pan for Christmas that I am dying to use but I am out of saffron and don’t want to pay the price most grocery stores charge. And to respond to the black eye pea question, I just finished eating the rest of my Hoppin John that I made for New Years – yummm. Bought some ham hocks from the local meat vendor, added a bunch of fresh veggies, served over rice with some smoked cheddar. Found the recipe on Allrecipes.

Check out Cash N Carry. No, you DON’T need a card even though everyone thinks that! I buy my flour in 50# bags – the Dover flour from Canada is absolutely awesome for my breads and baked goods. Do you have one near you? I’m down in Wine Country, OR.

You write, “If you have never been to Winco before, it’s totally worth rounding up some friends {there is safety in numbers} for the bulk spices alone. The prices beat Costco hands down, and you can probably stock up on a years supply for under $15!”

Why? It isn’t like Costco where you need to buy in bulk. You can buy a little teeny bit of any of the spices. That way your spices are always fresh!